HS-LS1-7

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Use a model to illustrate that aerobic cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.

Clarification statement: Emphasis is on the conceptual understanding of the inputs and outputs of the process of aerobic cellular respiration.

Assessment boundary: Assessment should not include identification of the steps or specific processes involved in aerobic cellular respiration.

Regents Exam Questions

Released New York State Regents exam questions that assess HS-LS1-7 are listed here by exam and question cluster. Each link opens the question with its answer key.

Exam	Cluster	Question
August 2026 Biology Regents	Frog Development	Question 29
June 2026 Biology Regents	A Seasonal Strategy for Survival	Question 3
January 2026 Biology Regents	Diabetes	Question 23
August 2025 Biology Regents	A Unique Relationship: Mulberries and Silk	Question 11
June 2025 Biology Regents	Does It Matter?	Question 33

Vocabulary

Terms from the Biology Glossary that come from this standard or from the released exam questions that assess it.

From this standard

• ATP
• bond breaking
• bond forming
• cellular respiration
• chemical process
• compound
• energy flow
• food molecule
• inputs and outputs
• life processes
• living system
• matter
• oxygen

From released exam questions

• amino acid – Aug 2025
• atmosphere – June 2025
• blood sugar – Jan 2026
• body system – Aug 2025
• carbon – Aug 2026, June 2026, Jan 2026, June 2025
• carbon cycle – June 2025
• cell – Aug 2026, June 2026, Aug 2025
• chloroplast – June 2025
• diabetes – Jan 2026
• digestion – Aug 2025
• ecosystem – June 2025
• fertilizer – June 2025
• hydrosphere – June 2025
• lipid – Aug 2025
• macromolecule – Aug 2025
• metabolic pathway – Aug 2025
• mineral – June 2025
• muscle – Jan 2026
• nitrogen – Aug 2025
• protein – Aug 2025
• soil – June 2025
• sugar – June 2026, June 2025
• waste – June 2025

Performance Level Descriptions

Every Regents exam question on HS-LS1-7 is written to match one of the performance level descriptions (PLDs) below.

Level 1: Use a model to identify that cellular respiration is a chemical process by which the energy in food molecules is made available to the organism in a usable form or identify the correct model that represents cellular respiration. June 2026 Question 3, January 2026 Question 23

Level 2: Use a model to identify that cellular respiration is a chemical process by which the energy in food molecules is converted and is made available to the organism in a useable form or identify the inputs and outputs of cellular respiration. August 2025 Question 11, June 2025 Question 33

Level 3: Use a model to illustrate the inputs and outputs of cellular respiration by which the energy in the bonds of food molecules is converted and made available to the organism in a usable form. August 2026 Question 29

Level 4: Use a model to illustrate that aerobic cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.

Level 5: Develop a model to illustrate that aerobic cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.

Notice: PLD levels!

Resources

Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of HS-LS1-7.

This section could be expanded upon. You can help out by adding to this section.

NGSS Dimensions

Performance expectation HS-LS1-7 was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:

Science and Engineering Practices

• Developing and Using Models
  • Use a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
  • As matter and energy flow through different organizational levels of living systems, chemical elements are recombined in different ways to form different products. As a result of these chemical reactions, energy is transferred from one system of interacting molecules to another.
  • (NYSED) Cellular respiration is a chemical process in which the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and new compounds are formed. In this process ATP is produced, which is used to carry out life processes.

Crosscutting Concepts

• Energy and Matter
  • Energy can be transferred between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between systems.

Page contributors: Caroline Leonard, Conrad Richman

Biology | HS. Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems